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3 Impressions: Pens 4, Leafs 0

by
Sam Kasan
/ Pittsburgh Penguins

Sam Kasan gives his three impressions from the press box of the Penguins’ 4-0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

1. Fehr FactorPens forward Eric Fehr made his team debut tonight, and boy did he make an immediate impact. Fehr picked up a shorthanded goal and two points in the contest. Pittsburgh knew his presence would help the PK unit, but I’m sure they weren’t expecting him to make it an offensive threat. He carried the puck with speed to the net, tried to make a pass, but his pass was tipped. No problem. Fehr simply recollected the puck, goated Jonathan Bernier to the ice and roofed it for a shawty. He finished the game with two points, plus-2, 2 hits and 12:03 minutes of ice time.

2. Cullen His ShotMatt Cullen will turn 39 years old in two days. Not only can the 18-year veteran still play, he can still fly. He was a force both physically and with his speed. Cullen and Fehr worked off each other perfectly on the play that led to the shorthanded goal; Cullen with a feed and net-drive. Later in the second period Cullen chipped a puck out of his own zone and unleashed his wheels. Cullen retrieved the puck and had a two-on-one with Sergei Plotnikov. Cullen elected to keep, elected to shoot and elected to score his first for the Penguins. He finished the night with two points.

3. Depth ScoringThe Penguins put up four goals against Toronto and zero of them were by Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby or Phil Kessel. General manager Jim Rutherford made a lot of moves this summer to improve the Pens’ depth at forward. Now that the team is getting healthy (Pascal Dupuis and Fehr returning) you are seeing that depth. Pittsburgh’s bottom two lines and second power-play unit won this game. Oh, and that guy playing in net.